A range of unsafe products, which have been prohibited from sale or recalled from the market, or present inadequate product labelling and safety warnings, remain available for sale online.
According to an OECD online product safety sweep conducted in 2021, out of 1196 products inspected, 1044 banned/recalled products (87%) were found to be available for purchase. In addition, out of 1410 products inspected, 438 (31%) had inadequate product labelling and safety warning.
These unsafe products online can cause detriment to consumers, including physical injury, financial harm, and even death.
OECD online product safety sweep
Building on the results from the 2021 online sweep, an OECD global awareness campaign will be carried out from mid-November to mid-December 2022 to alert online platforms, online sellers, and consumers about the safety risks and issues associated with products sold online. The event will take place in conjunction with the International Product Safety Week (14-17 November). The campaign is coordinated by the Australia Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) and the Korea Consumer Agency (KCA).
Stop, check and ask: is it safe?
Stop, check and inspect
The following 21 jurisdictions took part in the sweep: Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, France, Germany, Iceland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Korea, Latvia, Lithuania, Mexico, Peru, Singapore, Sweden, Turkey, and the United Kingdom.
Similar to the online product sweep undertaken in 2015, this sweep examined three issues recognised as potential sources of consumer harm when shopping online:
The seven product categories focused on were: toys/games, household electrical, household non-electrical, sporting/recreation, apparel, infants/children, and portable technology.
The full sweep summary report will be published in early 2023.